Former NC Senate leader Henley dies at age 90

Tuesday

Mar 20, 2012 at 10:46 AM

HOPE MILLS, N.C. (AP) — A former leader in the North Carolina Senate is being remembered for his contributions to the state and to the Cumberland County town of Hope Mills.

The funeral of former state Sen. John Henley Sr. was set for Tuesday afternoon at a Hope Mills church. Pinecrest Funeral and Cremation Service Manager Greg Padgett said Henley died Saturday at age 90 at Cape Fear Valley Medical Center in Fayetteville from natural causes.

The Fayetteville Observer reported (http://bit.ly/GAHJPK) Henley served ten terms in the Legislature, where he was Senate president pro tempore from 1975 through 1978 — an era when much of the chamber's power still rested with the lieutenant governor. Henley, a Democrat, later became president of the North Carolina Association of Independent Colleges and Universities.

A native of Wadesboro, Henley was a medic in World War II who opened the Clinic Pharmacy in Hope Mills in 1946. He became the town's mayor the following year. He served several years as mayor and then town commissioner, including a four-year stint in the 1990s.

"He was quite a figure in the state and Hope Mills in business and politics," former Hope Mills Mayor Al Brafford. Later in life, Henley supported efforts to rebuild the town's dam.

Henley's survivors are his three sons, including Bob Henley, who still runs the Hope Mills pharmacy; four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

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